This might be the year the rebuild begins to take shape at the ML level. Veteran leaders like Smiley and Canseco will lead the youthful group of Suzuki, Lidge, Nunnari and Hillenbrand to a much better W-L record than Holbrook has seen these last few years.

Moving Andruw Jones was a puzzling move, but Pittsburgh is still absolutely stacked at all 8 positions. A pitching staff without much fire power may allow others in the division a chance to creep into contention.

Pedro Martinez will be hard to replace – Florida ownership would contend he was equally hard to negotiate with. Many years of drafting well has put a good product on the field in Florida, but they needed to be more active this offseason if they wanted to really compete for the division.

The Brotherhood made smaller moves to fill roster voids this offseason. Their roster, led by Johnson, Asano, Griffey, Ichiro, and Everett is still too top heavy. They will win some games but probably don’t have the chops to contend this season.

B

New Orleans Voodoo

RP Pedro Borbon, RP Marcus Moore, CF Stan Javier

RP Todd Van Poppel, RP Mariano Rivera

The Voodoo made no noise this offseason. Their lineup is still strong from top to bottom, but their pitching staff isn’t what it used to be. A lot will rest on the success of Dickey’s knuckleball, and that’s never a safe bet to make.

Analysts aren’t sure if the Armadillos got enough in return in the Delgado trade, but their lineup is still better than average and their bullpen is top notch. Look for the Armadillos to contend for the division this season.

C+

Houston 36ers

SP Phil Leftwich, LF Gregg Jefferies, SP Juan Guzman

None

Last season’s acquisition of Caminiti burnt a hole in their pocket, which left the 36ers with little wiggle room this offseason. But, no big names exited, and this was a very good team last year that will have top prospect Roy Oswalt waiting in the wings.

B-

Gobbler’s Knob Turkeys

1B Todd Zeile, C Todd Pratt, SP Cal Eldred, SP Pedro Astacio

None

The Turkeys have a few very good players, but lack the organizational depth to make a serious run in 1999.

The Beavers won the Pedro sweepstakes and have the most fearsome rotation in baseball, with a very impressive lineup to go with it. Top prospect Garcia could also get the call up this year. Portland looks like the early pick to come out on top this post season.

No big moves needed for the Pranksters this offseason, their roster is still well positioned for success. An aging infield will need organizational depth, but Joyner and Martinez are still playing at a high level, making their age a non-factor for the 1999 season.

The additions of Andruw Jones and Mo Vaughn makes a scary lineup even harder to get through. If their 5 solid starting pitchers remain healthy, NYCBC will be back contending for another title this post season.

A

Old Bridge Titans

LF Troy O’Leary, 1B Wally Joyner, SP Tom Browning, SP Roger Pavlik

C Mike Piazza, LF John Vander Wal

Old Bridge will be the surprise team out of the Ruth Conference this season. Signing Piazza, plus the emergence of solid young starting pitchers Anderson, Kuroda, Saunders and Mulder will give the Baseball Club a difficult time and probably end them a wild card spot.

The Whitefish didn’t make any impressive moves in the offseason, but will have a winning record this year if their strong lineup can put up enough runs to support rookie pitchers Wood, Vazquez and Duckworth.

C

Charleston Rebels

SS Royce Clayton, RP Tom Gordon, LF Brian McRae

C Brad Ausmus, RP Greg Gohr

The Rebels aren’t ready to compete this year, but they have some talented players that can either be built around or dealt for future investments.

Time will tell if Bismarck paid too high a price for Sanchez, but he’s an electric player that can spark an offense every night. Bismarck is strong now, but has more strength waiting in the wings. It will be fun to watch how they piece together their roster as the season develops, and they’re likely in the hunt.

Young arms Chen and Hernandez will have to develop quickly if Hollywood is going to win many games this year. Rumor has it superstar short stop Barry Larkin is unhappy under the bright lights and is looking for a change of scenery.

Seattle was only able to snag one compensatory pick out of letting Piazza, Kent and Jaha go. They don’t have a bad team, but will need to continue to build their farm system in order to compete with the Firebirds in the coming seasons.

C+

Phoenix Firebirds

LF Tom Marsh, C BJ Surhoff, SP Paul Wagner, 3B Tony Phillips

C Don Slaught

The Firebirds will, once again, field potential all stars at every position. Their starting pitching looks to be good enough to match win totals of last year – fans are hoping their superstars stay healthy this year, which would make Phoenix a favorite to emerge from the Ruth Conference.

C+

Oregon Ducks

SP Bobby Jones, SP Mike Sirotka, 1B Eduardo Perez

SP Kenny Rogers, SP James Baldwin

This offseason’s most interesting move was the franchise’s second relocation, this time back into the States in Oregon. The newly branded Ducks are a top heavy squad, with two time Pitcher of the Year winner Pettitte and slugger Jason Giambi leading the way, but probably aren’t deep enough to seriously contend this season.

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